Political opposition in Russia: “No regime lasts forever”

Boris Wischnewski is one of the last well-known opposition politicians who are currently still in Russia and in freedom. He wants to continue and explains in an interview that political changes are inevitable in the long term.

ARD: How has your political work changed since February 24, 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began?

Boris Vishnevsky: It has undoubtedly become more difficult. We are now surrounded on all sides by repressive laws that severely restrict civil rights and especially freedom of speech. We are therefore treading on very thin ice.

Since the laws against so-called “fakes” and the “discrediting of the army” came into force, it has been considered a crime – just like in Soviet times – to disagree with the authorities. There are numerous cases, around fifty within our party alone, where people have been punished for expressing opinions that did not follow the official line.

So we are forced to adapt our language, our public formulations, so that on the one hand our positions become clear and on the other hand they do not result in repression.

“People are grateful that we exist”

ARD: does it work?

Wischnewski: If anything positive remains of the Soviet era, it’s people’s ability to read between the lines. Our audience understands us very well. After all, it lives under the same conditions.

I meet a lot of people on the street, on public transport, in shops, not just at receptions with voters. And they all thank us for our stance, for being the only political force that continues to represent these critical positions in Russia today.

“I’m used to not giving up”

ARD: The political opposition in Russia did not have an easy time of it either: candidates were not allowed to vote or their work was sabotaged in other ways. In 2021, for example, “doubles” appeared in your Petersburg constituency, intended to confuse voters and steal votes from you. Is it even possible to win in such a system?

Wischnewski: Like any politician, I’ve had both wins and losses, but I’m used to not giving up. Of course, sometimes it is very difficult to observe the futility of many efforts. But in more than 30 years in politics I have never had a moment of complete despair.

First of all, the support of the citizens gives me strength. And second, understanding historical patterns. The totalitarian regime has been destroyed before and replaced by a more democratic one. That means it’s possible again. So the effort is definitely not in vain. And that the fight is worth it is also shown by numerous examples of our successes at local level.

“Change can start suddenly”

ARD: Do you think domestic political changes, maybe even a “regime change” in Russia are possible at this point in time?

Wischnewski: This regime will surely change, because none lasts forever. I’m not just a deputy, not just a politician, not just a deputy chairman of the Yabloko party, I’m also a professor at Moscow Free University and I lecture on the political history of Russia in recent years.

And I tell the students that a year before perestroika and seven years before the disappearance of the Soviet Union and the Soviet political regime, nobody could have guessed that these changes would take place.

It can start all of a sudden. In my opinion, it can be triggered by internal changes within the Russian political elite rather than by any external circumstances. Because so far all changes in Russia have come from within.

But the question is of course that of time. There are numerous forecasts: In six months, in a year, it will certainly be there. But I am not able to make such a time prediction based on the current situation. But I know that changes are inevitable.

“Opposition and emigration are different professions”

ARD: No official representatives of the Russian government are invited to this year’s Munich Security Conference, but the former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov are among them – both well-known opponents of Putin, but who have not lived in Russia for years. What role do they play for the opposition in the country?

Wischnewski: Garry Kasparov and Mikhail Khodorkovsky represent no one but themselves and perhaps their closest friends and supporters. But they most certainly do not represent Russia. Moreover, opposition and emigration are different professions. You can only be a Russian politician if you stay in Russia. It is impossible to work remotely, as we say “remotely”.

You need to see and feel what the people of Russia are thinking. You have to feel it with your skin. And they must strive to solve the problems of those they represent here as politicians. All this is impossible if they are not in the country.

“Impossible to live with your head in the sand”

ARD: You yourself are one of the last prominent members of the opposition who is still in the country and at liberty. Alexei Navalny, Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Kara-Murza – they are all now in custody. Aren’t you afraid that it could happen to you soon too?

Wischnewski: Of course, I sense this threat, as do my comrades. But it is impossible to live with your head in the sand and subject your own behavior to this threatening backdrop. You have to be aware that a lot can happen and try to prepare for it. But even if it comes to that, life doesn’t end there.

There are people who were subjected to political repression in the Soviet Union, who spent many years in prison and were then released, and who helped shape our country’s politics after 1989/90. In my opinion it is important not to give up. Remember Churchill: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal – what counts is the courage to continue.” That’s how I and my Yabloko comrades live.